php How do I start an external program running - Having trouble with system and exec

Question

I'm running in a controlled, xp, intranet only environment and I need to start external processes from a PHP applications. (Backups, Reports etc.)

I can get system or exec to start processes that work silently. Here's a simple example

<?php exec ("echo hello > hello.txt");?> 

I can get it to execute a bat file that has no visible output.

I can't get any program that has a screen to run such as a report generator or notepad...

<?php exec ("explorer");?>

doesn't do anything. or same for system

Answer 1

Another super late answer, but this comes up on Google when searching for "php run gui program"...

I have been able to launch a GUI app in Windows 8.1 by making, running and deleting a scheduled task:

shell_exec('SCHTASKS /F /Create /TN _notepad /TR "notepad.exe" /SC DAILY /RU INTERACTIVE');
shell_exec('SCHTASKS /RUN /TN "_notepad"');
shell_exec('SCHTASKS /DELETE /TN "_notepad" /F');